


If You'd Only Come With Me

by childofmalin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Coming Out (more or less lol), Gay Awakening, M/M, Mentions of Rape and Murder (!), Mild Horror, Small Towns, kunwin are siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 08:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofmalin/pseuds/childofmalin
Summary: After moving to a small town, Kun finds himself longing for someone he barely knows.His secret is a dark one."Kun, watch your fingers" Ten looked at him with a soft smile before turning back to his sketchbook. Kun felt his cheeks burn. So he was cought staring again. It wasn't the first time, Ten had pointed it out more than necessary and it never failed to make Kun blush like a teen.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	If You'd Only Come With Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever story in English! And my first story to be published on AO3. So every type of feedback is more than welcome here. 
> 
> 1\. Disclaimer: I'm not a native English speaker. If I make mistakes, feel free to point them out! I tried my best.
> 
> 2\. Disclaimer: The characters I've used in this story are in NO WAY referring to the real owners of the names I've used. They are simply inspired by them. I do not want to make ANYONE uncomfortable.

Kun stood in the emptyhallway and admired the floor. 

Its cold stone was polished, shining in the dim light. With a sigh, Kun dropped the cartboard boxes he was holding. So this was his new home. The house had looked a little bit smaller on the pictures, a little more home-ish, maybe even somewhat cozy. But now that he was here in person it looked like an empty castle. 

To be frank, Kun never had the intentions of buying a house this big and old but since the price was surprisingly attractive (especially to his bank account), he had decided to buy it. He never knew if he'd meet someone soon. He never knew if that someone decided to get married and move in and want kids and help Kun cook in the big kitchen, listening to slow rnb while the kids were outside in the garden, playing. 

So Kun was happy to be here in the end. With another sigh he closed the black, wooden door and proceeded to take his boxes up to his soon-to-be bedroom. 

He slept well the first night. 

"Have you met your neighbors yet?" Kun could hear his brother's curiousity through the phone. 

"No, I haven't had time for that yet", he said and stood up from the couch he was sitting on. 

"Well, tell me how they are when you meet them. Remember that asshole of a neighbor you had in your old apartment?" 

"He was just... A little grumpy, Sicheng" "Still an asshole" Kun couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes. A quick look at the small clock hanging in his living room almost made him flinch. 

"Uh, hey I think I'm gonna call you back tomorrow, I want to check out the forest here before it gets too late" Sicheng chuckled on the other end. 

"Yeah, your daily ritual of running for two hours, huh..." "I need to keep myself health-" But his brother had already hung up. 

The air was cold and the breeze was sharp as Kun made his first steps out of his property. In the dark it almost looked abandoned. To the right was another house, not as big but it looked like it had been built only a few years ago. The lights were on and from the sandcastle and the swings in the garden behind the house Kun could tell it was a family. The house to the left looked a lot less like a families. Kun guessed it might be just as old as his own, but it was smaller and the paint on the walls was chipped in some places. There was, however, light in what seemed to be the owners room. 

After Kun had looked around his neighborhood enough for him to at least be sure on which doors he was going to knock tomorrow, he made his way up the hill and began jogging slowly. He could see his own breath condensating in the air. It was quiet. No cars, no people, only the weak light of street lamps to his right. He almost missed the narrow path leading to the forest, too focused on the small town atmosphere surrounding him. His headlamp helped him see in the dark as he was making his way through the first trees. 

Here it smelled like wet moss and mushrooms, something quite unfamiliar to Kun who had lived in the city since he even heard the word forest for the first time. The sound of his feet hitting the dirt was the only thing Kun heard besides the music he was listening to with his half working airpods. (Sicheng bought them for his birthday a year ago) 

After what felt like ten minutes of running through the forest, Kun noticed how the path changed. Not a lot of people seemed to walk this way, since the path was now almost completely covered in grass and fallen leaves. Kun slowed his pace until he was walking, his thighs slightly tingling. He felt kind of weird. Aside from his heart beating fast in his chest, he also felt shivers run down his spine, the hair on his skin rising. He felt like he was being watched. 

No. He was just being paranoid. 

Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned around to leave in the direction he was coming from, but as he did his eyes settled on something on the side of the path that sent a shiver through his whole body.

His blood ran cold, looking at the old graveyard stretched out in front of him. 

Kun would've laughed at his own fear, but right now he really just wanted to run home and huddle himself into his blankets.So he did. Without looking back. 

The owners of the newer house turned out to be very nice. They even invited Kun in for coffee, which he politely declined since they looked like they didn't have all the time in the world. It was a married couple, their three still very young children and a dog that greeted Kun with a curious sniff on his hand and then a rough tounge on his fingers. 

The owner of the old house... Well, they didn't open the door at first. It took three rings until he heard footsteps. And to Kuns surprise it was a man his age. A very pretty one to say the least. And it was weird, Kun had never considered a man pretty before. 

"Hello, can I help you?" His voice, it was pretty too. Just as pretty as his sharp eyes, his curious glance. His hair was thick and healthy, black just like Kuns but slightly longer. And when he noticed his perfect teeth because he started grinning, Kun realized he had been staring. 

"Uh... Yeah, well I've come to notice you're my new neighbor! So I just wanted to meet you I guess" Kun cringed at the way he said that. 

"Right, I've seen you yesterday", the pretty man answered."I hope you know the house you moved into is haunted" 

Huh? 

"Well, what a nice way of greeting your neighbor..." 

The pretty man chuckled as he said that. 

"I'm joking! It's not actually haunted, it's just very... Creepy. No one's lived their since almost a decade" 

Pretty man shrugged and took a step back. "You wanna come in?" 

Kun hesitated before he followed him into his house. 

"What's your name by the way?", pretty man asked after closing the door. 

"Kun. Qian Kun. What's yours?" 

Pretty man only smiled at him and went into what looked like the living room. It wasway smaller than Kuns, but so much more cozy. A big couch with many pillows and blankets, a seat right in front of an oven, colorful carpets on the wooden floor. 

"Just call me Ten. You want something to drink? Tea, coffee, water...?" 

So pretty man was Ten. What an unusual name. 

"Tea would be nice, thank you" 

Kun watched as Ten went to the kitchen, then he focused on the living room again. Something impossible not to notice were the sketches and paintings, some in frames, some not, hanging everywhere on the walls. They were quite beautiful. Very delicate. But the more he looked at them, the more they reminded him of something sad, almost like they wanted to tell some sort of story Kun couldn't understand. 

"I drew them" Kun turned to see Ten standing in the middle of the room, holding two cups in his hands. 

"You like them?" 

A soft smile made its way to Tens lips and Kun felt his heart skip a beat. 

"Yeah, I do. Are you an artist? I mean, do you do that for work?", he asked him. 

The smile fell from Tens pretty face. It almost made him look sad. 

"I... I used to, yes... But people came to forget about my artwork, they stopped being interested in it so they didn't want to buy anything after a while. It's hard. Being an artist I mean. People tend to remember my face more than my art. Which I'm not mad about, it's fine. As long as they remember me, huh..." 

Kun feels like he shouldn't have asked. 

And Ten seems to immediately notice Kuns discomfort. 

"Tea?" 

It's nice, Kun thought after leaving. Ten was nice. And even though he was so pretty it almost made his heart ache, he tried not to think about it. You know, he was not gay. Very not gay. In fact he was straight and he really needed to go grocery shopping, maybe he'd meet a girl just as pretty as Ten there. No, he was not thinking about him again. Not in the car, not in the store, not when a young mother with her child on her hand checked him out. He was not thinking about his eyes when he drove home, his lips when he cooked for dinner. 

How his fingers were cold against his when they brushed as he took his cup.

He jogged through the town this time. And he didn't feel shivers running down his spine, didn't feel his heartbeat increasing. He was fine. No creepy old graveyard.

He had trouble falling asleep that night.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call earlier... I... Forgot" 

"It's fine, I didn't have time anyway. But how were your neighbors though? Living up to your expectations?" Kun bit his lip and smiled. 

"Well they're nice, you know? A family and a young artist, haven't met other people in this town yet but it's very quiet here" 

Kun paused for a moment before going on. 

"I think I need your help though. You know I've been wanting a studio at home and..." "-and you want me to set it up with you" 

He sighed. 

"Yes" 

His brother didn't answer for some time, but Kun knew he was already looking for a flight. 

"Alright, I want to visit you anyways. I think I'll be there in like a week and a half. And I warn you, don't let me wait for two hours like last time, old man"

"Old man? How dare you!" Kun tried his best to sound hurt, but truth be told he actually missed his little brother teasing him.

After hanging up, he glanced out of his window. It was surprisingly dark outside. Kun blamed it on the thick, grey clouds that crowded the sky. It's been like this since he'd woken up. Just as he wanted to start working again, he heard the bell ringing. 

It was Ten. His hair was held together in a small ponytail. He looked quite adorable. 

"Hi, I made some cookies this morning and I just thought you might want some?" There was a smile on his lips. A friendly one. 

Kun visibly gulped before looking at the plate in Tens hands. The cookies did indeed look pretty good. Maybe it was Kuns turn to invite him in now? 

"I'm-... Thank you. Would you like to co-" 

"I'd love to" 

It sounded sounded breathless. When Kun frowned, he blinked and took a tiny step back.

"I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to ask me in. I hope you enjoy the cookies though. See you around?" 

"No, wait! I do. I do want you to come in" 

And the sweet smile that made its way back to Ten's lips was all worth it. 

"...and this is the kitchen. It's kind of my favorite place in this house, since I love to cook" To be honest, he hadn't really cooked something in this kitchen yet, too busy setting up his furniture. 

"You love to cook? You could... Invite me over sometime and show me your skills", Ten boldly asked. It made Kuns mind fuzzy, the way Ten bit his lip and grinned at him. 

"Why not... You could stay and help me with my furniture. I'll cook us dinner then" 

It became a daily routine. Ten helping him set up all of his things and eating dinner with him, that was. And Kun liked having him around, watching the way he so gracefully helped him, how he sometimes cutely jammed to the music Kun was playing through his Bluetooth speakers. 

He didn't question the warmth in his chest when their eyes met, didn't question the tingly feeling in his hands when their fingers brushed against each other by accident. Or how he fell asleep with Ten on his mind, how he thought of holding his hands, kissing his pretty lips, touching his pretty thighs. 

Maybe this small town was driving him crazy but he didn't mind. 

Two days before Sicheng's arrival, Kun decided to jog into the forest once again. It was morning this time, the daylight making the old graveyard less creepy. But the feeling of being watched did not leave him. With sweaty palms he stepped closer to the first forgotten grave. 

There was a name carved into the stone, but it was covered in moss and dirt. He was only able to make out the two dates written under the name. "1914-1937", he read out loud. They must have died young. 

With a weird feeling in his stomach he headed back home.

"Kun, watch your fingers" Ten looked at him with a soft smile before turning back to his sketchbook. Kun felt his cheeks burn. So he was cought staring again. It wasn't the first time, Ten had pointed it out more than necessary and it never failed to make Kun blush like a teen. 

With a sigh he focused on cutting the onions again, but just as he did his hand slipped a little. "Ouch, fuck..." Blood dripped on the precisely cut onions and Kun cursed once again before holding his wounded finger. Ten looked up and rolled his eyes, murmuring something like "I told you". But he still insisted on helping Kun treat his wound. 

Ten took his time examining his cut before wrapping a plaster around his thumb. 

"It's pretty deep. I told you to watch your fingers, dummy" 

Kun sheepishly looked at the bathroom floor. 

The other pressed a quick kiss to his finger before looking a flustered Kun in the eyes. "But I can't blame you, I know I look cute when I'm concentrating" 

"Did you just... Kiss the cut?" 

Ten chuckled before nodding slowly. 

"Do I have to do it again?" 

Yes. Yes, Kun wanted to say yes but he didn't. 

"You'd like that, wouldn't you", he said instead and left the bathroom. 

"Kun!" He heard Ten following him until he felt a hand holding onto his pinky finger. 

They were both silent for a few seconds. Kun slowly got the feeling Ten wanted to tell him something. But before he could say anything, Kun carefully removed his pinky finger from Tens grip. 

"Thank you for taking care of that", he said softly and lifted his wrapped up thumb. 

"No problem"

Ten left after dinner, thanking Kun for cooking like he did everytime. 

And they did stare at each other for a few seconds too long while saying their goodbyes. 

Kun fell asleep fast, but his dreams were haunted by Ten's soft, cold lips against his fingers, parting until he could feel his wet tounge tasting his fingertips. 

It was the night before Sicheng arrived when something weird happened. 

Ten helped him just like every other day, but as Kun mentioned his brother visiting him the next day he could see Ten freezing on the spot. 

"Your brother?", he asked, hesitating to hang one of his paintings to Kuns wall. 

He had gifted it to him with the words "To make you remember me whenever you look at it" and Kun had just laughed at that.  _I think about you all the time anyway_ ,  he had wanted to say. 

"Yeah, his name's Sicheng. I think he's gonna like you" 

But Ten was more quiet than usual for the rest of the day. 

"You know you can still come over anytime even when my brother's here"

Kun looked at Ten, who was standing in the doorway ready to go home. 

"Yeah, I'll see. I'm busy for the next days anyways though..." 

"If you don't come to my house, I can just come to yours" 

Ten smiled a little at that. 

"You're obsessed with me, aren't you", he said quietly. His eyes had that mischievous sparkle in them as he looked up to Kun. 

"Maybe I am" 

It was quiet again. Kun could hear the rain falling outside. He wanted to give Ten his umbrella, but just as he wanted to move he felt a cold hand on his cheek. 

They kissed for the first time. 

Kun laid a hand on Tens small waist to get him closer, but he shied away. "I have to go"

And as Kun watched him leave, he noticed that Tens clothes remained dry in the heavy rain. 

Kun's night was dreamless. 

"The house really is  that  big..." 

Sicheng followed Kun into the living room. "Looks pretty good so far, I guess", he told him then and let himself fall onto the couch. 

"I had some help" Kun smiled at the thought of Ten. 

"Remember the artist neighbor I've told you about?" Sicheng nodded. 

"Well, he's been helping me for the whole week and he's... Yeah he's a good friend now. Maybe we can meet him. He said he's busy, but I'm sure we can say hi for a moment" 

Sichengs expression changed and he frowned at Kun like he was confused. 

"Hm, okay... I mean we have time right?" 

Kun answered him with a nod. His younger brother smiled and took a pillow to hug it. 

"I'm hungry, can we eat?" 

Kun knew Sicheng would sleep pretty much all the time after getting here. And he didn't blame him for having a jetlag. He was still happy to have him here. 

While he waited for him to wake up, he took his phone out of his pocket, wanting to call Ten and ask if he could come over to talk. But then he remembered he never got his number in the first place. He never asked him. So he decided to just ask him personally, since he didn't have anything else to do. 

It was cold outside, but the sun was shining bright. Everything just seemed so peaceful and quiet. As Kun ringed on Ten's door it didn't take long until it was opened. Kun was ready to smile and softly say "Hey", but Ten looked upset. No, he looked sad and exhausted. Very sad and exhausted. 

"What happened?" He didn't answer him, didn't look at him and as Kun tried to carefully take his hand he even took a step back. 

"Ten, what's wrong?" He frowned. Ten was usually pretty bubbly and happy around him. He wasn't used to seeing him like this. 

"Did I... Do something wrong yesterday? Do you regret the kiss?" 

He didn't want to ask, but he somehow felt like he really needed to. It made him nervous and kind of frustrated. He didn't want Ten to regret the kiss. Was it selfish to think this way? Was it selfish for him to want something he wasn't sure he could have?

"No, I just-" Ten finally looked up into his eyes. 

"I'm sorry. But I don't think we can see each other anymore" 

"Ten, what're you talking about? If this really is about the kiss, I'm... I really liked it. I didn't mind. I actually want to do it again" Kun was being honest. He was always honest when he was frustrated. And Ten seemed to like him being honest, because a small smile grew on his lips. 

"You want to do it again?", he asked, almost whispering his words.

With Kun's nod he smiled, came closer again and then closed his eyes. 

So Kun kissed him, carefully. This time with his hand buried in Tens hair, holding his hand with the other. He was so much closer to him this time. And the kiss, it felt so much more intimate, lips softly moving against each other. Kun even heard Ten sigh into the kiss and maybe this could have been the best day but then it suddenly wasn't anymore. 

"Kun, please don't forget me"

And with that their lips were parted, Ten stepped back into his house again and before Kun could follow him the door was closed. He still felt the coldness of Tens lips against his own. 

Kuns mind was racing as he went back to his own house. This was all so stupid. Why would Ten say that to him? Did he really want to keep distance now? After what had happened? It felt weird, just having discovered that he might have a crush on his neighbor and then suddenly being shut out of his life forever. Or was he? 

With a heavy sigh he went inside his house and headed to the kitchen. 

"Where were you?" 

Kun forgot how to breath for a second. 

"Gosh, don't scare me like that!"

Sicheng was sitting by the kitchen table, sleepily eating an apple. 

"So, where were you? Your good-friend-neighbor?" 

Kun pressed his lips together and nodded without saying a word. 

"You look like your heart has been broken, though" 

"Sicheng I- I have to tell you something", he began. 

"The good-friend-neighbor... He's actually..." He hesitated. Even though he knew his brother wouldn't judge him, it still felt weird to tell him now. 

"... my crush. Or at least he was" 

His heart sank. 

Sicheng's eyes grew wide. 

"Wait, did you just come out to me?" 

"I guess so"

"Kun, you motherfu-" 

"Don't curse when you're with me" 

"That's a big deal though. You liking men. I mean I would've never guessed"

"And I'm not a hundred percent sure, so can we please change the topic?" 

Tens painting on the wall of his kitchen caught his attention. 

"Uhm... By the way, this is a painting he gave to me", he pointed at it for Sicheng to see, but his brother frowned in confusion.

"There's no painting, Kun" 

"Of course there is, you can't oversee" 

Kun came closer to the picture and pointed at it again. "Here. Right there. Are you blind?" 

"Hey, don't call me blind when there's literally nothing on the wall. Kun, are you doing okay? Are you like... High or something?" 

Kun laughed at the absurdity of all this and shook his head. 

"You can't be serious, the painting is RIGHT THERE" He stepped so close that he could reach out and touch it, but as he did, he felt... He felt nothing against his palm. Just the wall. No painting, no frame, nothing. 

"Is this house haunted?", Sicheng later asked, watching Kun drink his coffee to get over what he had just experienced. 

"I really wish I knew. Ten said something about this house being haunted too. Maybe it is" 

"Ten? What an unusual name" 

Kun looked at his brother, who started playing with strands of his dyed hair. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I heard it for the first time" 

"Wait, is he... Are you just making him up?" 

"What?" 

"Yeah, like... Are you making this dreamy neighbor artist boyfriend up? It would make sense, the picture I couldn't see, the weird name, the fact that you told me he's helped you for a week but most of your stuff is still unpacked" 

"What did you just say?"

"I said most of your stuff is still unpacked" 

Kun felt his head spinning. He had had the weird feeling of not coming any further with the moving process even though Ten had helped him so eagerly all the time. 

He stood up to take a look at the hallway and Sicheng was right. It shouldn't look like this. It should almost be done by now. Has he been making Ten up? The fact that he even had to ask himself that made him shiver. No. No, Ten was real, he had been in his house, they had kissed, twice, he couldn't have made up all the times Ten had looked at him so prettily. He simply couldn't have. 

"No, I know I didn't make him up, I'm not crazy", he told his brother and went back to the kitchen table. "You'll see when we visit him. I- I hope he's going to open for us, though" 

"Wait, you're not on good terms with him?" 

Kun didn't answer that question. But he somehow really hoped Ten had just joked around. 

He hadn't. They both found out after ringing on the door for at least four times. It felt wrong standing here. And Kun couldn't really explain why he felt that way. 

"Kun, I'm not trying to make this thing even worse, but I really think that this house is empty. No car, no doormat, there's not even some kind of plant to make this place look... More alive" 

Sicheng was once again completely right. And Kun hated that it was true, hated that there was no sign of someone living where he had just kissed Ten a few hours ago. 

"Do you think I'm going insane...?" 

"No" Sicheng patted his shoulder and turned to leave. 

"Maybe the moving process was just way too stressful for you. Or something like that. You could go to a therapist, maybe that'll help too"

But he was still convinced that Ten was real. He knew himself good enough to know that he was not just randomly hallucinating. Maybe Ten moved out very spontaneously. But that wouldn't explain the non-existent painting on Kun's wall. 

Having Sicheng help him with his studio was a good distraction. They spent hours covering the walls with acoustic foam panels, setting up the lighting, the desk. Kun thought about Ten only when he was alone again. It was dark outside already, the sky was clear and the moon bright and full. It felt good to breath in fresh air again. 

Just as he jogged by the entrance to the forest, he felt a pair of eyes on him. With his heart hammering in his chest he glanced over to the trees. No one was there. It could've just been an animal, probably a deer. Kun shook the feeling of slight fear off again and wanted to pick up his pace, but then he heard a whisper. 

It was faint. Weak, maybe. Kun froze on the spot, goosebumps all over his skin. There it was again. It came straight from the woods. 

_"Kun..."_

No. 

"Ten? Ten!" 

Was his mind playing games with him again? Was he hallucinating now? But it was clearly his voice, maybe a breathier, a little weaker, but it was unmistakably his voice. Without thinking twice, he turned around and ran into the trees. He didn't have his light this time, so he used his phone to see something in the darkness. 

It was quiet again. 

"Ten! Are you... Are you there?" 

His voice failed him as it trembled slightly. He wanted so desperately to see him again, but he was nowhere near where the whisper had come from. The deeper Kun ran into the woods, the more he lost track of where he was going. 

"Ten!", he called out from time to time only to be answered with silence and even more darkness. Out of breath he stopped to breath for a moment.

"It's driving me insane, Ten! This town... You... You're driving me insane. I think I'm going crazy" 

He said it like he really meant it. And that's when the light of his phone hit the gravestone he was standing right in front of. 

It was the same one he had seen two days ago, the same one he wasn't able to read the name from. But this time the name was so clear on the stone, the dirt and moss removed. 

_Chittaphon Leechayapornkul_

**_"Ten"_ **

_1914-1937_

_May he be loved in heaven._

_"I was 23 when they came to my house and burned my paintings. When they raped me in my own living room and dragged me to the woods to hang me"_

Ten was standing right beside him, looking at his headstone. Kun couldn't move. 

_"I thought one of them had loved me. I as selfish enough for wanting it to be true..."_

He turned his head to look at Kun, pretty as ever. But his skin was paler this time, eyes looking almost empty and dull.

_"And through my selfishness I searched for love even after my tragic death. I searched for love so long that I forgot how it felt. Until you came"_

The cold hand taking his did not startle Kun. He didn't move, just looked at Ten, unable to say something. 

_"I thought maybe... Maybe there was a chance of falling in love with you. I thought maybe there was a chance of you sharing the same feelings for me but when you mentioned your brother coming I knew it was over. You would think you were insane, think you were crazy and that I was just your imagination. But I'm real, just not in a way you understand"_

Kun felt his arm get colder. 

_"And maybe there's a chance. For us to stay the way we were. For us to fall in love"_

He was closer now, his skin illuminated by the cold moonlight. 

_"If you'd only come with me..."_

**Author's Note:**

> This was hard but really fun to write. And I want to continue writing stories, but for that I might need your feedback. Again, feel free to point out mistakes so I can correct them.  
> Thank you so much for reading!


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